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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 13, p. 27.

HANTHA WADD Y 27 and the Pazundaung stream from the north-east and north, and thence flows southwards under the name of the Rangoon river into the Gulf of Martaban. The District is further intersected by numerous tidal creeks, all navigable by country boats and many by river steamers. The most important of these are the Thatkutpin or Bassein creek, which connects the Rangoon river with the To, and thus with the main stream of the Irrawaddy ; the Panhlaing, which during the rains, when the water is high, takes the place of the Bassein creek as the most direct route to the Irrawaddy; the Bawle river, which divides Hantha- waddy from the adjoining District of Ma-ubin; and the Hmawwun, which taps the rich rice-fields of the Kyauktan subdivision. The plains of the delta are composed of homogeneous post-Tertiary alluvium resting on a bed of water-worn gravel, which is often found at a depth of less than 250 feet and is a good water-bearing stratum. Along the skirts of the Pegu Yoma a broad bed of sandy deposit occurs; and laterite, which is largely used for road-metalling, is found in many of the lower hills, mixed with red alluvial clay. Occasionally partially rolled pieces of fossil wood are met with. The Yoma itself is formed of beds of the Pegu group, of miocene age. The coast-line is fringed with dense low mangrove jungle, covered regularly by the tide, and characterized specially by species of Bruguiera and Rhizophora. Behind these forests and along the borders of the tidal channels are the tidal forests, the most character- istic trees of which are Sonneratia apetala and Avicennia tomentosa. These forests average 40 to 50 feet in height, and have a thick shrubby growth, similar to that of the mangrove forests. Nipa fruticans and Pandanus foetZdus form dense bushes, and Phoenix paludosa is very common. Creepers and climbers abound, including Acanthus volubilis, Flagellaria indica, &c. Behind this zone are either open evergreen tropical or low deciduous forests. Among the former are found Parashorea stellata, Pentace burmannica, Albizzza lucida, Lagerstroemia tomentosa, and Dillenia parvifora, and many varieties of shrubs and climbers. The low deciduous forests contain Dillenia pulcherrima, Shorea leucabotrya, Pentacme siamensis, Melanorrhoea usitata, Xylia dolabriforsnis, Lagerstroemia macrocarpa, Albizzia lucida, and Strychnos Nix-vomica. The undergrowth is usually composed of scanty andro- pogonous grasses. The savannah forests are distinguished by the great growth of elephant-grasses, among which the trees grow up apart from one another; they include Butea frondosa, Ficus fistulosa, Terminalia crenata, Dalbergia cultrata, Dalbergia purpurea, Lagerstroemia Flos Reg-inae, and Strychnos Nux-vomica. In the Yoma, elephants, bison, tsine or hsaing (Bos sondaicus), and various kinds of deer are common; rhinoceros are rare. There are indications that tigers and leopards are increasing in consequence